{"data":{"description":"As wife of the president, Martha Washington was a gracious hostess, both in New York and in Philadelphia, and known for her official receptions every ..","title":"Martha Washington","post_type":"page","content":"\u003ch2 style=\"color: #ad8431;\"\u003eFirst Lady\nBorn June 2, 1732 — Died 1802\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eWhen she was seventeen years old, Martha Dandridge married Daniel Parke Custis, one of the wealthiest planters of eastern Virginia. Eight years later her husband died, leaving her with two children. Characterized at the time as \"the prettiest and richest widow in Virginia,\" she met Colonel George Washington in 1758. They were married a year later.No list of notable early American women would be representative without that of America's first First Lady.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eThey made Mount Vernon their home where Martha managed her husband's plantations in his absence. During the war she visited him in camp — sharing his honors, anxieties and hopes. Almost at the very hour of Washington's victory over the British at Yorktown, Martha's only son Col. John Parke died from camp fever only a few miles away. Arriving at the scene, Washington wept like a child. He vowed to Martha, \"I adopt his two younger children as my own, from this hour.\"\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eAs wife of the president, Martha was a gracious hostess, both in New York and in Philadelphia, and known for her official receptions every Thursday afternoon at the Executive Mansion.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cimg class=\"imgctr\" style=\"color: #000000;\" src=\"/images/earlyamerica/WashMartha2PORT100.jpg\" alt=\"Martha Washington, First First Lady of the United States\" width=\"448\" height=\"502\" /\u003e\u003cp\u003eMartha Washington\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\n\u0026nbsp;","menu":[{"path":"lives-early-america","title":"Famous Lives","submenu":[{"path":"lives-early-america/autobiography-benjamin-franklin","title":"Autobiography of Ben Franklin"},{"path":"lives-early-america/ramsays-life-washington","title":"Ramsay's The Life of Washington"},{"path":"lives-early-america/adventures-col-daniel-boone","title":"The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone"},{"path":"lives-early-america/true-story-paul-revere","title":"The True Story of Paul Revere"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"portrait","title":"Portraits"},{"path":"rare-images/last-men-revolution","title":"The Last Men of the Revolution"}]},{"path":"freedom-documents","title":"Freedom Documents","submenu":[{"path":"freedom-documents/bill-rights","title":"Bill of Rights"},{"path":"freedom-documents/declaration-independence","title":"Declaration of Independence"},{"path":"freedom-documents/u-s-constitution","title":"The U.S. Constitution"}]},{"path":"world-early-america","title":"World of Early America","submenu":[{"path":"bookmarks","title":"Early American Bookmarks"},{"path":"world-early-america/famous-obits","title":"Famous Obits"},{"path":"firsts","title":"Firsts!"},{"path":"rare-images/maps","title":"Maps"},{"path":"rare-images","title":"Rare Images"},{"path":"music1","title":"Music"},{"path":"writings","title":"The Writings of Early America"}]},{"path":"boston-massacre","title":"Boston Massacre"},{"path":"milestone-events","title":"Milestones"},{"path":"early-america-review","title":"The Review"},{"path":"home/teachers-students","title":"Teachers"},{"path":"sitemap","title":"Sitemap"}]},"success":true}